Queen Street West business owners take issue with what they call disruptive construction
The banging and dust is one thing, but for local businesses on Queen Street West, TTC track replacement work is just another hit to their bottom line.
Clothing store owners Richard Lyle and Jennifer Halchuk say they are angry and frustrated the street is being torn up in the weeks leading up to Christmas shopping season.
“Instability yet again,” Halchuk told CTV News Toronto. “I have no idea what our sales will be and it has me constantly reaching out to people on Instagram and trying my best to get pedestrians to come because no one will come because they can’t park,”
Co-owner Lyle argues the work should be delayed until January.
“Replace the tracks in the loser months not in the weeks leading up to Christmas. That is unfair after a pandemic,” Lyle said. “I mean, we are still in a pandemic, it isn’t over.”
Two blocks east, businesses near Niagara Street are hoping to avoid a similar fate.
CTV News Toronto first spoke with owners last week when they were lobbying the city to delay the track work until January. On Tuesday, they got an answer.
“It is going to start on November 19 instead of November 29 and it will go until December 6 so that is fantastic,” Rob Sysak, of the West Queen West BIA, said.
“It saves ten days, but some members won’t be happy because it still means three weekends of holiday shopping will be impacted, but at least the city came to the table,” Sysak told CTV News Toronto.
Janet Wright owns the nearby FloorPlay Socks. She said the amended construction timeline is not a compromise and small businesses like hers are barely hanging on.
“The people who made this decision will not suffer anything,” she said. “People who own small businesses will be in trouble and be forced to lay off Christmas staff.”
Still, other business owners on the stretch of Queen Street West believe the compromise is better than nothing.
“The city might not be happy with us. The TTC might not be happy with us. We might not be happy with them but in a compromise everyone gets a bit of what they want,” Doc Von Lichtenberg, owner of Doc’s Leathers, told CTV News Toronto.
The city said it recognizes the challenges faced by local businesses, however, deferring the work “to a later date will create more traffic impacts and delay other construction projects that are planned in 2022.”
In a statement, the city said it will work with local BIA’s to encourage shopping during construction.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Lanny McDonald and a few old Flames take the Stanley Cup on a surprise visit to the man who saved his life
The Stanley Cup was passing through town Friday, and Lanny Legend took it upon himself to take it for a surprise visit.
Bathroom break nearly derails $22 million project at city council meeting
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
Chad Daybell sentenced to death for killing wife and girlfriend’s two children in jury decision
Jurors resumed deliberations Saturday on whether a man should be sentenced to death after being convicted days earlier of the murders of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children in Idaho.
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
Father who killed one-year-old son with axe may be allowed to travel in southwestern Ontario
A Mennonite father who killed his one-year-old son with an axe may be allowed to travel to parts of southern Ontario in the coming months
'It feels like freedom': Why some Albertans like going nude in nature
Few people can say they accidentally purchased a nude beach — but Shelley can. When she saw a piece of land she could fondly remember camping on was up for sale, she inquired about it and ended up purchasing it. She soon found that there were already inhabitants on it.
This Calgary home has a giant tree in the middle, and it's for sale
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
China lands spacecraft on the moon amid growing space rivalry with U.S.
A Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon Sunday to collect soil and rock samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.
Pedestrian dies after being hit by train in Brockville, Ont.
Brockville Police says a pedestrian has died following a collision with a train that was heading to Toronto.